It’s been a month since the last pitch of the 2024 season was thrown. Walker Buehler struck out Alex Verdugo to help the Dodgers win the 2024 World Series. The Dodgers are the world champions and it’s a well-deserved championship.
It’s offseason and lots of teams are working hard to prepare for the 2025 season. Of course, many teams are working hard to win the title. However, at least for now, the Dodgers are still in the top of several rankings. Nevertheless, the road is not going to be easy. Why? Let’s look back at these 4 seasons.
Firstly, let’s look back at the 2021 season. The Dodgers won the 2020 World Series and in 2021, they got 106 wins during the regular season. They finished second in the NL West. In the wild card game, the Dodgers defeated the Cardinals. In the NLDS, they were fighting hard against the Giants. In the end, the Dodgers beat the Giants in the NLDS. Nonetheless, in the 2021 NLCS, the Dodgers lost to the Braves. So, the Dodgers weren’t able to be back to the Fall Classic in 2021.
In addition, the Braves became the World Series champions in 2021. In 2022, the Braves won 101 games in the regular season. Again, they clinched a berth in the postseason. However, in the NLDS, they lost to the Phillies in 4 games. The Braves weren’t able to advance to the NLCS in 2022.
Thirdly, the Astros became champions in 2022. In 2023, the team got 90 wins and won the AL West title. In the postseason, they defeated the Twins in the ALDS. Nevertheless, in the ALCS, the Rangers beat the Astros in 7 games. Thus, the Astros failed to go back to the Fall Classic.
Finally, last season, the Rangers had a great season. They defeated the Diamondbacks in the World Series and won the first championship in franchise history. Nonetheless, in 2024, they finished the season with a winning percentage below .500. They won 90 games in 2023, but this year, they only won 78 games. The Rangers finished 3rd in the AL West and didn’t secure a spot in the postseason.
Looking at the World Series winners from 2020 to 2023, none of them were able to advance to the World Series in the next season. The Dodgers finished the 2021 season with a loss in the NLCS. The Braves didn’t win the NLDS in 2022. Moreover, the Astros’ journey in 2023 came to an end in the ALCS. This year, the Rangers didn’t even clinch a spot in the postseason. Furthermore, in this decade, the Astros are the only team that played back-to-back World Series. They lost to the Braves in the 2021 Fall Classic but won the title in 2022. Well, there’s nothing guaranteed in baseball. It’s not that easy to clinch a postseason berth. It’s hard to win a series in the postseason. And it’s certainly difficult to win the World Series. The Dodgers are looking to become the first team to win back-to-back World Series titles for the first time since the Yankees won three straight World Series from 1998 to 2020. There is surely a lot of work to do.
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